OEC Opening Day June 7th

ill be there.

 

As will I.

 

I'll be there, and I'll be up with a bunch of other BA's.

I'm very excited for this opening. They have serious resources and lofty goals that I am hoping will elevate the levle of craft beer in CT. Can you say sours for growler fills?

 

prices seem fair for sours if you go on their site
http://oecbrewing.com/tasting_room/

 

Will be there

 

yessir

 

I will be seeing you there of course Rich. Prices look very reasonable (much better than I expected). Extremely intrigued about what they will have to offer.

 

There.

 

Place is going to be amazing. Just the brewing process alone is gangster, not to mention the fact that their beer will probably taste awesome.

 

There as well

 

So solid opening. Line took a LONG time to get through but I think it was actually moving a bit better after the initial hour or so (but still slow). As for beers, decent in general, but nothing stood out aside from the Berliner Weiss (which was awesome; get the syrup too as it actually works in this one!). The porter was alright, nothing special. The sour blended version of the porter was definitely better. The sour saison I enjoyed as well. The Grodziskie... well, not a fan (but that may be the style to be honest).

That is all that they had available today I think. All that being said, with the beers being good, but definitely not great, I think this is a place that WILL get better with age. Matthias isn't going to let them serve midling beer and I think that this is the sort of thing (all the blending and barrel aging) that will improve with time. I look forward to having more from them. Had a great time today and will be back.

 

Anyone know if they plan on distributing bottles? I saw them post some labels on Twitter.

 

From the Facebook event page:

"OEC bottle will not be available until mid-summer or so."

 

Thanks! Hope they make it to the Hartford area on a regular basis! I'm excited to try their beer.

 

I thought their offerings were far superior to "midling beer." Yes, the Berliner was one of the standouts, but I was blown away by most of what I tried. Granted, I had a time limit and was only able to get the four sours to go (Berliner, Sour Porter, Zymatore, and the blended saison) but I thought every one of them was fantastic. The blended saison was a real treat, my 750 went way too quickly once I cracked it open that night.

Their facility was picturesque, and on a gorgeous Spring day its hard to beat spending time amongst the brand new stainless steel tanks, coolship and wood paneling of the tasting room. Everything was state of the art, from the pouring/growlering station, the brewing system, ant the wood tables and flights. It felt more like a showroom than a working brewery (which in this case was a good thing).

That being said, this is NOT your typical new local brewery. We've seen mediocre brewery after brewery open up in our state, and yes some might be better than others, but for the most part they offer varying degrees of the the same experience and beer styles. Nice people, slightly interesting offerings, with a fun tap room or space to hang with friends for a few hours. That quaint experience has become a hallmark of the recent craft beer revolution, and has become commonplace and expected when you go to any new brewery. OEC goes way beyond this.

This is a European craft brewery, the kind that ships over 50% of its beer to the US, except this one was grown right here in CT. When I walked into OEC on Saturday, saw a hybrid of the US model and that of our European brethren. I recognized De Dolle, Struise, Alvinne, BFM and Trois Dames infused with the New England farmhouse model of Tree House and HF, with a little Allagash thrown in. Importers by trade, they are very familiar with the specialty brewers in Europe, and it is clear they utilized the best of what they have seen in building their own brewery. I found the facility and the beer to be very appealing, and the hybrid they have created is instantly fresh and interesting. It is GREAT to have them in our back yard, and with the team they have I only expect the best from OEC going forward. Well done.

 

Yes we have. I'm glad to hear they're doing some good things. I didn't get to check them out because Flora w/ Blueberries and unlimited Brother Soigne won for my Saturday beer seeking. Also, Three Penny Taproom had Yarrgghhh, so I didn't have to stand at Tree House for 5 hours to try that beer.